Bryant, whose Lakers are playing the Celtics at 7:30 p.m. Friday, will not play due to a fractured left knee. But he used his time in town wisely anyway.

"About 30 minutes in, he just walked into the room and pulled up a seat and sat in the back, as nonchalant as possible," said Dylan Ironside, a BC sophomore in the class. "People didn't really react at all. [Professor Nick Nugent] didn't really do anything, he just went on teaching.

"I thought I must be going crazy."

Bryant's timing, Ironside added, was impeccable. Nugent was just using Bryant and the NBA as an example of keeping perspective when it comes to international marketing.

During a class break, the students realized it was indeed he Black Mamba. Nugent and Bryant told the students they did not know each other.

By the end of the class, according to Ironside, there was a crowd of about 50 students — not counting the ones in the room — waiting for Bryant in the hallway.

The BC students were a bit caught off guard, then took to social media to express their surprise.